Mega Man X The Day of Σ Review

Posted on by
Reply

maxresdefault
It’s time to quickly review a short Mega Man OVA that came out a while back. This one was pretty fun and it was definitely cool how it came with the Mega Man X remake. I’ve seen it a few times over the years and it certainly holds up well. This OVA reminds me why we need more specials like this one in the future. The possibilities with Mega Man are simply endless!

The special is a little under 30 minutes and it shows how Sigma became the leader of the Mavericks. It works as an origin story and explores a time period that we never got to see much of. Mega Man X and Zero are tasked with finding out who is manipulating the reploids and turning them against their allies. The mystery takes them through a few massacres until they arrive at the deadly truth. Zero handles the shock of Sigma being a traitor pretty well while Mega Man X is a little more shocked. The special is fast paced as you would expect and the ending is open ended since you need to play the games to see how the saga really ended.

The animation is quite good. Zero’s character model at times felt a little too tall, but I’m just used to him looking a little more hunched over. The design is quite good if you look at it without thinking about the others and likewise with Megaman X. The energy blasts and effects look great. This could have easily been turned into a TV show and I’m certain that fans would have been very pleased with the results. The soundtrack is all right. It doesn’t use as many video game themes as I would have liked, but it still does sound nice and futuristic. The theme when Mega Man X was getting the charge shot ready was solid and overall it worked pretty well here.

The power levels are a little wonky as I feel like Mega Man X and Zero should be portrayed as much stronger. One Mechaniloid (I doubt that is how it is spelled, but close enough) should not last so long against a combined assault. Zero should have taken out his sword unless he acquired it later on. That would have been very handy. Mega Man X’s fully powered charge shot looked very accurate though and it is good to see. His power level should really be off the charts since he was essentially built to be the ultimate reploid. Also, Zero knew about Sigma which is how he countered the Maverick’s stab, but he looked pretty bad in that fight anyway. He should have been thinking about how to land a hit of his own instead of bragging for so long. I like his overconfidence, but landing at least one hit would have certainly helped a lot as well. Sigma is strong so it should be a good fight, but Zero’s no slouch either.

We got a cameo from Doctor Light and Doctor Cain as well. This helped to tie into the classic universe and I’m still waiting for the game where we see the events between them. I know that a popular theory is that Zero destroyed Bass and supposedly he may have destroyed Mega Man as well, but most of that is speculation. Others believe that Mega Man X was built from Mega Man’s parts. Personally, I’m hoping that this theory isn’t true since I want them to be completely separate. The special ends in a very sad way for Doctor Cain since he really underestimated the Mavericks. It seems like this was all just a game to Cain though so he may not be too distraught about his fate.

There were also cameos from other Mavericks and the legendary Vile. It would have been great to have seen Vile more since he is such an awesome character, but I suppose that I’ll have to wait a while. Maybe if the Mega Man show does well they’ll eventually introduce the X characters. It may be more of a comedy than anything, but hopefully they’re portrayed right. At least we have the Mega Man X episode from the 90’s cartoon. Mega Man X was nice and heroic here unlike his extreme cartoon version (to an extent) so that was nice to see. He definitely was not going to put the hostage at risk although he should have at least tried going for a leg or something. It was also interesting to note that Zero did hit the hostage in the training simulation, which basically proved that Mega Man X made the right call here. The hostage was grateful as well, which was a nice touch since they can be silent or condeming at times. The reploids here seemed very reasonable. The universe built around the characters definitely has a lot of room for growth and there is still a lot to explore.

Overall, Day of Sigma is a must watch for all Mega Man fans. It finally shows the story of how the Maverick war started in the first place. This war would basically not end for quite a few games so this trigger is very important. Unfortunately, it does go against canon events so it is considered to be more of an AU/non canon adventure than anything, but it still gives you a lot of context. The original version would likely be very similar as well. With solid animation and a good soundtrack, this OVA has all of the tools necessary to succeed. Mega Man X is a great main character as well and Zero is as cool as always. One day, maybe I’ll be saying the same thing about Mighty No 9, but it is unlikely.

Overall 8/10

The Boy Review

Posted on by
Reply

tumblr_o0igdnDUg81ruok98o1_1280
It’s time for another one of those dime a dozen horror films. If you thought that I would somehow enjoy The Boy more than the others, then it’s time to be enlightened. To be honest, this film actually started out all right. It was fairly reserved. No exploitation, No super violence, No dark pasts…and then…the film continued. It brought all of those problems into the mix along with language and animal violence. This film was PG-13 from the get go so it’s all not too extreme, but every negative adds up. Throw in the terrible twist at the end and you’ve got yourself a stinker!

Greta has found herself a babysitting job at a mansion in the middle of nowhere. This is the perfect way to escape her unhealthy connection to a demented villain. As long as her friends don’t tell him where she went, it should be impossible for anyone to find her. The job gets a little odd when Greta realizes that she has been tasked with looking after a doll. The doll’s parents claim that it is real though and give her a lot of rules to follow. If she does these things, then all will be well. Greta eagerly agrees and the instant they are out the door she proceeds to break as many of the rules as possible. After all, what can a doll do? Malcolm is the local errand boy who acts as a negative role model for Greta and encourages her to do all of the wrong things. Will she listen? Of course she will!

So, where to start here? Well, Greta’s a terrible main character. Seriously, let’s forget for a moment that this is a horror film so Greta’s doomed anyway. Is it really so hard to follow the rules that she was given? Talk to the doll a little, play it some music, feed it, etc. It’s not exactly rocket science and she is getting paid for this so she may as well do the job right. Since the doll doesn’t have any other needs, she still has a very large amount of free time. It’s not enough for Greta though and she has her “Miller Time” (Using Wine though) as quickly as possible. Greta also insists on insulting the doll and pushing it around since its face offends her. After she realizes that the doll is real, she quickly tries to warm up to it, but it’s a little too late for that. It’s good that she’s making amends, but she was well past the point of being even slightly likable.

At this point, I was expecting the doll to help her out against the insane Cole. (Yes, the friends decided to tell him where Greta was hiding in order to save their own skins. Great friends right?) Greta asks the doll for help, but then it’s destroyed in a single hit and the plot twist occurs. Are you ready for this? Are you? If you don’t want spoilers, leave now. This twist is far too terrible not to mention here! Well, the doll really was fake. There are no supernatural elements in this film whatsoever. Instead, there’s a guy living in the house all along. He quickly shows up and destroys Cole, but decides that Greta and Malcolm have to die as well.

The direction of the film certainly changed rather drastically here. It was good to see Cole gone, but this twist was terrible. For starters, it makes no sense. He moves around very quickly and silently as Greta somehow doesn’t notice when he’s around, even when he goes to the bathroom where she’s taking a shower and snatches her clothes. He gets to her boots immediately after she enters the house in the first scene as well. His secret passages go everywhere apparently and he’s a bodybuilder who has a good amount of super strength. He’s able to survive being directly stabbed and gets multiple injuries that do nothing but slow him down. Why couldn’t we have just had a supernatural doll who could destroy people and warp reality? That would have been more entertaining at the very least. This guy was about as interesting as your average psychotic villain, which means he wasn’t interesting in the slightest.

Malcolm is a terrible character as you’d expect so there’s no reason to talk about him much. The instant that he appears, he decides to flirt with Greta and since this is a film, he succeeds and they instantly have a one night stand. From there, he just gets knocked out a lot and eventually escapes thanks to Greta. As for the parents who ran off, they decided to destroy themselves since The Boy was too strong. They left Greta as a human sacrifice since they’re also pretty corrupt. You’d think that they would just run off and call the cops, bringing them back to the house to save everyone right? Not in the cards for them.

As for the rest of the negatives, this film falls into every trap in the book. As mentioned earlier, we have the obligatory shower scene which serves no purpose in the film other than to remind us that the villain is terrible and has nothing better to do than watch. We have the terribly written romance that undermines both of the main characters. The friends are hilariously bad as they basically don’t mind sacrificing Greta’s life. Her subplot with Cole involving the past is naturally super dark because every horror film likes a dark backstory. It’s not the only one though as we find out that the original Boy already had destroyed other kids back in the day and nobody ever stopped him. He literally got away with murder thanks to everyone being so weak willed. Apparently people at the bar knew about this, but decided not to tell anyone.

There is animal violence as well as Greta is in charge of looking after the traps and taking the rats down once and for all. The final part of the film is also pretty violent as the Boy starts to destroy everyone as cruelly as possible. You’d think that Cole would be pretty tough, but he goes down like a sack of rocks immediately. Even when he was fighting The Boy, it was impossible to root for him though. I’m sorry moviegoers, but this guy’s even worse than the main villain although they’re both completely terrible. It’s a short film, but the Boy quickly became your average horror slasher with every possible trope that it could squeeze in.

The design for The Boy also isn’t very good at all. I’ll take the classics like the Xenomorph over him. To be honest, Freddy and Jason aren’t much better either, but at least their designs are classic. Jason’s mask is also more impressive. I suppose that The Boy could beat the original Jason, but both Freddy and Jason have long since surpassed this guy thanks to their never ending sequels. They keep getting stronger while The Boy will likely never appear again.

Overall, The Boy is rather terrible with the final twist solidifying this as a sad experience. Without the twist, maybe the film could have clawed its way up to a 2 or a 3, but it depends on where the film would have gone with the ending anyway. Adding in Cole was a big mistake if you ask me. None of the characters are likable and the film is filled with a ton of generic jump scenes and toons that you won’t remember in the end. There is a final scene as all horror films have a twist. As it stands, it’s a pretty subdued one and a generic ending that any horror film could pull off. I guess this film just didn’t have much originality. There’s no reason to watch this film and you’re better off just checking out Bleach: Hell Verse if you want a spooky title that’s also hype at the same time.

Overall 1/10

Street Fighter V Update

Posted on by
Reply

10
I completed Story Mode! So, it was a pretty fun adventure. I’ll give Capcom some kudos for making it a decently long adventure with around 50 fights and a lot of cutscenes. Some characters like Chun-Li and Cammy looked pretty bad though so their fans likely won’t be too thrilled. They were losing left and right to just about everyone. People who like all of the villains will be happy though as they all looked very powerful. To an extent, you could say that the villains outclassed the heroes for the most part. Ryu, Ken, and Dhalsim are really the only ones who can fight without fear. Every character got to fight at least once here including a lot of characters who aren’t even playable. Who knows, maybe they’ll all be added to the game at some point, but most likely this is the end of the road for Peter and the Dolls. Hopefully season 2 will bring with it another big story arc in addition to the extra characters. I may be out of fight money then, but it’ll still be hype. If you haven’t downloaded this 16 gigabyte update, I highly recommend doing so!

Air Review

Posted on by
Reply

DART001_jacket.indd
It’s time to look at an anime that’s a little different from the average title that I review. For starters, this is not an action anime. This is a tragedy mystery story where a guy must try to repair the lives of 3 girls and their respective families in the process. It’ll be tricky and the show will take you on quite the roller coaster. It’s definitely a solid title and a show like this can be a nice change of pace, but unfortunately it is hurt by the terrible ending. I had to slash away a full 2 stars on account of that and was tempted to take more away, but the rest of the show had been consistently good and the ending, while dark, could have been darker.

Yukito, a homeless guy with no possessions or money, finds himself in a small town after walking for a very long time. His mission is to find a girl with wings that his mother told him about. He doesn’t stop to question if this was literal so he continues to search. The main problem is that having no money really limits his options so Yukito tries to put on little shows with his telekenetically controlled puppet for the kids so they can pay him. As you may expect, this isn’t his greatest plan and he never makes any money off of it. Luckily, a nice girl by the name of Misuzu shows up and offers him a home and 3 square meals in exchange for being her friend for the summer. Yukito grudgingly agrees and so begins his adventures in this crazy town.

The show really has 3 main arcs, one for each dilemma so let’s take a look at each one individually. First up is Kano’s plot. Yukito was given a job by her mother (or if not mother, a close relative) Hijiri. His job is to do odd jobs around the house and to entertain Kano at times. Unfortunately, it turns out that Kano has been cursed by a feather and has a split personality. This new personality shows up once in a while and tries to destroy herself. If she is not cured soon, Kano will end up being gone for good. As you would expect from Air, there are quite a few fakeouts and even a scene where you’re led to think that Kano’s other side may have succeeded. It’s definitely tricky to stop Kano when she’s always vanishing and her alter ego has super strength as well. One grab was nearly lights out for Yukito…permanently. The arc went over smoothly though and the resolution was good. It definitely had its share of sad moments, but had a happy ending in the end.

Next up was Minagi’s plot. Her mother suffers from forgetfulness and has been unwilling to accept that one of her daughters died at birth. As a result, she believes that Minagi is actually her dead sister. As a result, Minagi’s been forced to assume this identity for years, resulting in a very awkward dynamic in the house. Things get worse when the mother finally realizes that the sister is dead, but then goes to the other extreme as she forgets that she ever had any daughters. Distraught, Minagi is forced to move out and live at an abandoned train station. Now she’s finally in Yukito’s home turf so he decides to help out a bit. He gives her the option of leaving the town with him or finally confronting her mother about who she is. There is also a plot twist about Minagi’s friend Michiru who happens to have the same name as the dead sister. Makes for an interesting dynamic although it leads into the arc’s sad ending. It’s sad, but at least it’s not tragic and all of the characters still had a good time in the end. Minagi is also given a nice epilogue as she leaves this mysterious town and gets to go to a happier place and meet up with some relatives. It was another solid ending to the arc.

Next was the big final arc and unfortunately, it was the one that didn’t go over so well. Misuzu has a unique condition, derived from a curse and a fate of an infinite time loop of very limited possibilities. She can never get a friend as she suffers from painful spells and seizures whenever someone gets too close. The curse also gets partially transferred so if someone wants to be friends with her anyway, then they will both die. There is no way to break the curse and Misuzu is even given the extra discomfort of knowing when she will die. As the show repeatedly states on this tale being the 1000th summer and how this show is essentially about having the best summer ever, it is also her deadline. Misuzu will not outlast the summer, try as she might. She will also have to continue to die every summer, forever and ever. Meanwhile, her aunt Haruko has decided to never get too close to Misuzu. She inherited Misuzu when the girl’s mother died and her father decided to run off. The problem is that the Dad could reclaim her at any time so Haruko didn’t want to get attached. As a result, they’re on good terms, but you couldn’t really call them great friends. They each lead their own lives.
Kano-air-tv-24847781-853-480
As a result, Misuzu’s been all alone right from the start. Nobody even wants to be her friend no matter how much she asks. Well, Yukito’s helped out a few people already so this shouldn’t be a problem right? Well, unfortunately this is not the case. In fact, he just adds to her troubles by helping her emotions seesaw all over the place as he leaves and returns multiple times. In the end he realizes that this was a mistake and wishes for a do-over, but things don’t go as planned. Now, it should be made clear that Misuzu did get to have some fun in the end and you’re supposed to be content with the fact that she finally got to walk and go to the beach. If there was never any hope given for her to avert this fate of death then that probably would have been okay. It would have been a little more somber throughout, but so long as the core anime was not really changed, it may not have affected the score all that much. Unfortunately, the show keeps on giving you hope that the powers of friendship will be able to free Misuzu. There are dozens and dozens of fake outs that keep occurring and the viewer is left to think that we have finally made it past the darkness and into the light. Over and over again until you finally realize that the anime has just been toying with you from the start. Yes, I’m still irritated at the ending and just thinking about it makes me annoyed.

It doesn’t help that this infinite loop of 1000 summers will never end. If you decide to believe that the kids at the end are the final reincarnations of the two main leads, then it’s possible that this was the final death Misuzu had to endure and now she’s free. It’s a bit of a stretch if you ask me though and either way this version of Misuzu will keep on dying. If Yukito had found Misuzu’s winged form after being given a random speech in the final minutes of the show, then that would have helped to clear things up quite a lot. Instead, it turned into another fruitless search for the guy.

Still, as a lead, Yukito is a good protagonist. I found him to be a lot more enjoyable than the guy from Kanon as he was nicer and more understanding. He did his best to help all of the characters out and did so without having to flirt with everyone. He helped the other characters out as a good friend and he got a pretty sad fate in return. Ah well, he was never looking for a reward in the first place. He’s not too smart though as trying to earn a living by entertaining little kid in exchange for their pocket money will never work. Not to mention that his show was rather lackluster since he could only make his puppet walk back and forth in a straight line. In his second reanimated form, he lost all of his personality so he couldn’t really add much to this.

Misuzu’s a solid heroine as well. I found her to be more likable than any of the other girls. As we get to see her events twice, once from an outsider’s point of view and one from within, she does a good job of keeping up a brave face even when she’s feeling down. She’s had a rather miserable life after all, but always does her best to make the most of it. She turns sad ending into a happy one for herself. The only time I found Misuzu to be annoying was when she lost her memories as she suddenly became a mean person. I don’t think memory loss should change your core personality and subscribe to the Medaka Box theory instead. I feel like Misuzu would still be super polite even if she had no idea what was happening. Regardless, her likable personality is why I was hoping she would have a happier ending.

Kano’s not bad either as she would love to fly, but real world physics don’t allow it. Her dog, Potato, is pretty cool and Kano’s nice as well. She just never got a whole lot of personality besides being a nice person. I guess the split personality counts, but luckily she grew out of that. Her mother, Hijiri was good as well even if she never actually got to even try and help out Misuzu. She’s a doctor so it would have been nice to have seen her make an attempt even if Misuzu claimed that it would be of no use.

If there’s a character that’s a little weak in this series, it would be Minagi. That’s more due to the fact that I don’t really care for soft spoken characters though. There’s really nothing concrete to dislike about her and she has a lot of things to deal with as well. She’s always glad to help out someone in need with free coupons and a place to stay. Air doesn’t just give characters annoying gimmicks to make them different. The show did a really good job of making everyone very nice and sincere even if they end up being pretty similar at times as a result. Michiru was more entertaining as she was very over the top. She constantly beat up Yukito and the two of them were always getting into fights until Michiru became super serious towards the end. She certainly had a lot of energy and I was glad that she channeled it into productive things like blowing bubbles as opposed to constantly accusing Yukito of stuff that he wasn’t guilty of. That would have gotten old very quickly if she hadn’t stopped.
2976106_1346123310496.21res_500_281
Haruko is Misuzu’s aunt and she gets a very large role in the last 2-3 episodes. She started out as a supporting character and quickly replaced Yukito as the main character once he died and reincarnated the first time. The new scenes gave her a lot of extra character development and ultimately turned her into the best character in the show. She drinks a lot and certainly isn’t the most responsible parent. It took her a while to realize that she should be more helpful, but was better late than never. The ending is particularly rough on her since she will always have some regrets as a result, but at least she’ll have a few fond memories from the last days. As for Misuzu’s dad, the show tries to make him seem like a reasonable character, but it’s hard to buy it. He completely ditched her for 10 years and shows up out of the blue to take her back. If she hadn’t gotten amnesia at the time, his offer would have completely been rejected. He never even has any defense to explain why he left. I’m glad that he didn’t appear as a super evil character or anything like that, but there’s no way that you can root for him by this point.

There was also a random flashback mini arc that happened after Yukito died. It involved three new characters which included the original winged girl, Kanna, her friend, Uraha, and her bodyguard Ryuya. They decide to flee the land so they can have some happy adventures, but they’re caught and Kanna is destroyed. The other two decide to have a kid so that he can keep on being reincarnated to protect her future versions. It’s a very flawed plan at best. This episode gives you some extra context I suppose, but honestly I’d call it total filler. These guys will never show up again after all and they weren’t useful in the fights. Kanna and her Mom could level mountains with a single slash and yet they die to a casual arrow? That was probably the worst showing that I’ve seen from such a powerful being in some time. Not to mention that the Mom could have mentioned that she was cursed before Kanna made contact with her. It would have been more effective than simply saying “Don’t touch me” for no real reason.

The show did do a good job with the following episode though as it played out like a bit of a mystery. Why are we reliving the first episode? Has Yukito been given a chance to change everything? At first it seemed like that, but instead he gets a double take in addition to his original version so there are now two of him living in the same place and time as each other. It’s a pretty novel concept and as mentioned earlier, it’s interesting to see everything again from a new angle. If only the ending hadn’t spoiled its efforts.

The animation looks good. It’s not particularly awe inspiring, but it does look a little retro. (In a good way of course) We do get a quick action scene that is good and the character designs are all solid. I enjoyed the soundtrack to an extent as well. The themes in the actual episodes are all forgettable, but the opening is good. It’s an emotional theme that fits very well with the episodes. As a result, it’s not something that you are likely to listen to for fun at any given time, but if you just saw an emotional movie, then it’s a fitting theme to look up on Youtube.

As for negatives, there really isn’t much here. There is a little fanservice as characters dramatically shed their clothes to embrace the sky as they fly around. The aunt is also very casually dressed so she isn’t wearing much most of the time. Luckily, this show isn’t a shonen so the camera angles never really focus on it. I am still of the opinion that a risque costume does not necessarily have to be fanservice as long as the camera handles it appropriately. Air is a good example of this. There’s certainly no problems with language or violence here. This is something that you could easily show a kid although he/she would likely get bored due to the limited action scenes.

In the end, how does this compare to Kanon? Well, Kanon takes the definitive win here, but it’s not a lopsided contest by any means. Air has the better characters including the lead and has a better resolution to most of the plots. Kanon counters this by having the far superior ending and much better animation. Kanon was a lot sadder than Air despite the ending, but I’m not sure if I’d really call that a good thing per say. The soundtracks were more or less equal. I think “Ugu” beats “Gao” as a character gimmick as well. Really, the only thing separating these two series is the ending. Without it, Air actually takes the solid win here. After all, with better characters and better arcs, how could it lose? Kanon does have less filler though so that’s something to consider. Both deal with amnesia plots, but Kanon’s was more enjoyable.
AIR.full.1017930
Overall, Air is a solid title, but the ending really saps the joy out of it. As they say, an ending can make or break a title. It breaks this one, but it still makes for a good ride to I’ll recommend it to you all. If anything, just watch the final episode until the initial commercial break and you should be okay more or less. It’ll have ended on a much better note for you or even just ending on the second last episode although I forgot exactly what the cliffhanger there was. The town’s certainly very deserted so it makes you wonder how living there would be. I doubt the wifi signal would be all that good so you could forget about online gaming for the most part. With this title down, it’s back to action titles. Still, we’ll see if the next tragic title can beat this one. It’ll likely all ride on the ending rather than the journey, but you never know.

Overall 5/10

Superman/Batman Volume 3 Review

Posted on by
8

3525838.jpeg.maxheight-1500
It’s time for a Batman and Superman adventure. Typically these stories are all rather awesome and you’d expect an easy 9/10 or at least an 8 at the very lowest right? Well, for some reason the stories weren’t as great as I thought they’d be. The characters are all a little out of character at times, the writing can be rather bad and the art is really bonkers for some of the stories. It’s still getting a solid seven at least, but I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed at the result. Perhaps it will grow on me if I read it at some point in the future. Still, with a bunch of plots here, there are comics that are better than others so let’s look at each arc.

The first story involves the first time that Batman and Superman met each other in one of the timelines. This timeline is particularly wonky though as both characters seem a little off. It starts out pretty well with Batman and Superman having some of their usual banter. They are seeing who can find out the other’s identity the quickest. Back to the human plot, both of them are using the same cruiser. Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent have been assigned the same room due to a technical malfunction and Clark refuses to be bullied by the Wayne name. Both of them refuse to budge so they’re forced to share the room for the entirety of the cruise. This helps them learn each other’s identity, which is sure to be interesting since they were both being over the top annoying to each other. Granted, I was on Team Superman from the get go. Can’t let the money win!

Things take another odd twist as Owlman and another Superman show up along with Deathstroke and Deadpool. It was all a cosmic game and one that certainly did get on everyone’s nerves. It could have been crazy in a good way I guess, but it just didn’t work out for me and made for a very weak start to this collection. The art was also pretty bad, but this was possibly intentional to show how crazy things were. I do like the big and bold style of this era as it can make for great visuals, but this was not one of those times. At the very least, we did get some action here though.

Next up was a quick story in the far future about Power Girl and Huntress. Batman and Superman were both quickly cursed and trapped in their bodies. If they don’t escape soon, they will be mentally destroyed and unable to ever return. Power Girl and Huntress have a similar skill set so the two heroes get used to this easily enough, but it will still be difficult to find their bodies in time. They aren’t as young as they used to be after all. This was an okay story. There wasn’t a whole lot of action though and while the whole concept of body swapping is classic, it wasn’t really long enough for it to make much of a difference. Also, it should be Batman and Superman swapping bodies as that would make for a great story.

The next story was the first serious one. Batman was minding his own business when Martian Manhunter breaks into the Batcave and beats him up. Batman just barely manages to fend him off. Things get a little stranger as Superman is attacked by a bunch of people, the justice league shows up except they’ve all been mind controlled. Supergirl also arrives, but she’s mind controlled and then Superman is turned evil. Batman manages to fend him off and Lois Lane reminds Superman why he’s a hero. It was a little late for that though as Batman is now evil so we get a nice rematch. Then Superman takes on the Justice League and we find out that Despero and a race of ultra powerful aliens are behind this. The aliens can mind control anyone and they have these rocks that also help take people over. I think they’re confirmed planet busters as well by the way. Luckily, they’re nice guys in the end so they just leave thanks to Superman’s belief in the good that resides in everyone.

That story may have sounded awesome on paper, but it was super convoluted. Instead of being hype and awesome, it was just super confusing and the whole time you were just waiting for more action and fight scenes. Granted, this is another comic that I think would be a lot more enjoyable the second time around. It should have been better the first time, but some things do take time. I didn’t care for vinegar in my tea at first, but now it’s one of the best things to add. Fudge is still the coolest along with sugar though. Seeing more Batman vs Superman fights is always classic though. Not to mention that the art was quite good here as well. It was a huge improvement over the first two.

The collection ends with a final arc involving the Metal Men. They show up to attack a Gotham facility so Batman quickly calls Superman and the two manage to stop them. That being said, it turns out that they were just testing the security of the location. After the misunderstanding is over, this may as well have not been the case. The Metal Men are taken over by Omac and decide to destroy everyone that they can. Batman and Superman are called back into action, but Superman isn’t thrilled about Batman keeping more and more secrets. Not to mention that he also lied to Superman’s face the whole time as well. They’ll get over it though. This was easily the best adventure in the collection. This is a story that I could easily picture happening, not to mention that the art was also very sharp as well. It may not have been great for facial expressions, but the action scenes benefited from it and the characters showed a lot of emotion.

It’s also the little things that can help with a comic like this. I was glad to see Superman show up right away to deal with the Metal Men. Batman may not have done all that well on his own, but with Superman the battle was decided in an instant. The writing was also the best from the adventures and everyone was in character. If all the stories were like this one, I’d say that it really could have reached the elusive 9. There weren’t even any real guest stars here, Batman and Superman were able to hold their own comic with ease.

I’d say that the main problem with this collection was that it relied too much on gimmicks. Super powerful beings from other universes who were just messing with the heroes. I like having a villain that the heroes can punch. The writing was also an issue as good writing can make everything a lot more exciting. I’m just going to assume that this is an outlier and the rest of the comics will likely be a lot more fun. Batman and Superman still are the two best comic book characters in all of media and I don’t see that changing for me anytime soon. As the last story showed, they’ve still got it. As Bruce Wayne, Batman was annoying in the first saga, but aside from that both characters were great in the rest of the book. Superman being mind controlled has been done to death though and I still believe that he should be immune to it. Likewise for Batman. I wasn’t surprised about the Martian Manhunter being taken over though. He had a really poor showing the entire time although I did love his big twist. It helped to up the stakes.

Overall, This volume may not have been as good as expected, but it was still a solid comic in the end. I’d still easily recommend this to any Batman and Superman fans out there. There is a lot of action to be found and the banter between Batman and Superman is always classic. I do think that this collection is more fun the second time around so just enter this collection with that frame of mind. Once you know how it’s going to end, the stories should make a little more sense and not feel so random. It doesn’t completely excuse them, but at least it can possibly make them more entertaining. The stories can be fun, but the big alien takeover just felt like a huge missed opportunity considering how grand and large scale it was. It’s rare that a story is better the second time around, but just look at the Megaman NT Warrior manga series. I’ve read it dozens of times and it was only during my second last reading that I truly got to appreciate just how amazing the series was. Sometimes, things just get better with age and time. Another comic review with Batman and Superman is on its way so prepare yourself for that!

Overall 7/10

Batman’66 Volume 4 Review

Posted on by
Reply

tumblr_nz0j3u0urg1sa2z61o4_1280
It’s time to check out another Batman’66 volume! We are approaching the end of the series as volume 5 is the last one to have come out before the series ended. It’s been a good run and these stories have definitely been a blast. It’s no exaggeration to say that volume 4 is the best one yet and elevates the series to the next level. Seriously, the 5 star writing is pretty rare to find nowadays and the comic is handled just about perfectly.

There are 8 stories here so lets take a look at them. The first story may very well be the weakest. The main villain believes that he is actually a pharaoh so he decides to start robbing people. Batman and Robin make quick work of this guy while proving to the world that you can never count a hero out. They will always be watching and waiting! It’s a fun enough story, but there really isn’t a whole lot to it. You could substitute the villain in for anyone and the comic wouldn’t change at all. It’s like watching Batman and Robin stop a nameless gangster.

The next story was a little better. A guy with good flute skills decided to test his wits against the likes of Batman and Robin. That would prove to be his final mistake and as Batman pointed out, the good guys will always win in the end. This villain just didn’t think things through. The art was better in this issue than in the first one and while the villain was no threat either, the story was just more interesting. It’s a start and the catchy dialogue is what will keep you intrigued regardless.

The next adventure starred Batgirl as Batman and Robin actually didn’t need to appear this time. A guy who likes books a lot decided to enter a library. Unfortunately, he let two monsters loose by mistake since he forgot to heed the library’s warnings. Luckily, Batgirl realizes that every problem has an easy solution and she quickly learns how to seal the monsters while also ensuring that the bookworm will never return. It’s a rather tragic ending for him although Batgirl is very quick to justify her actions. Batman wasn’t around to state the moral of the day so I suppose she’ll get away with it this time. This was definitely a very quick story and I did miss Batman, but it was solid.

Things got more serious in the next story as Ffog made his debut. Yes, that is no typo, his name just happens to have a silent f. With his troop of girl scouts supporting the villain, Batman and Robin were quickly overwhelmed in round 1. After all, Robin refuses to hit a lady. Batman doesn’t abide by the same principles as he always states that justice does not discern by gender, unfortunately he was quickly taken down as well. Regardless, this story probably had the best art by this point in the collection and Batman had a lot of good one liners as always. Ffog made for a decent villain as well.

Next up saw the return of the Joker. This was probably hyped as a big story since such a legendary villain was involved. It was fun as the story used the classic trope of Joker pretending to be a good guy and fooling everyone aside from Batman. Batman even lost his cool at one point which is incredibly rare for him, but he apologized in the same panel and went on to remind Robin why justice is so good. Batman really loves to rub the morals in the face of his enemies. He does a good job of it that’s for sure. This was definitely one of the better stories.

Now, it’s time to look at the best story in the entire collection and I dare say the whole series. Lord Death Man has returned and Robin has been put out of commission as he fell on his head and is now very dizzy. Batman is forced to call on Batgirl while also criticizing the fact that a pink bat signal is used for her. He doesn’t partake in gender stereotypes after all. There is little time to discuss this though as the heroes are quickly thrown into a cavern and Batgirl is seemingly murdered. Batman is close to cracking, but ultimately reminds the villain that heroes don’t murder and lets Death Man destroy himself instead. There was a little plot hax here as Batgirl randomly got lost, but it happens I suppose. The story was hype and Batman’s a good role model for all heroes who end up making questionable choices through the years. This guy is one who will never stray from the straight and narrow.

Going back to the norm was the next issue as the Penguin jumped into the fray. I can’t take him quite as seriously as some of the other villains, but he’s all right I suppose. Nothing really stood out about this story and Batman really holds it together with his limitless wit and one liners that he uses to humiliate the villains. He even thinks one step ahead of the Penguin by setting a trap within a trap. It was most impressive! Robin tried to help out, but he didn’t do too well this time.

Finally, we had the lost episode story. This one nearly made it into the TV show and was finally brought back after all these years. Two Face is on the loose and Batman has to stop him before anyone is hurt. It also serves as a bit of an introduction to Two Face as Batman explains how his face was disfigured and why he uses a coin to decide what he will do next. This story definitely looked a lot different from the others as the art made it appear to be more of a New 52 title rather than 66. It definitely looks sharp and looks like what I’d expect Batman’66 to be if it wasn’t always trying to look super retro. This collection even brings the issue twice as it also contains the original black and white version. Batman reminds Two Face that there is always a chance and once a cure is found, he’ll be there.

As mentioned quite a bit already, Batman really steals the show here. This is the usual Adam West Batman, but to a more extreme degree. After all, the comics are very self aware so the characters are almost parodies of themselves. They’re incredibly exaggerated, but not in a Teen Titans Go way. They’re still likable characters here after all. Still, Batman is even more heroic than ever. He’s constantly lecturing someone about something and he’s never wrong about anything. Once in a while he’ll be so caught up in his sense of justice that he will miss obvious clues though. One example of this is when a few shady looking fellows walk into a bank. (I believe it was a bank) Batman goes on a tangent about how great it is that Gotham is a place where all cultures and religions can live in harmony while Robin is the only one to realize that these guys didn’t come here for rest and relaxation. Batman’s taken off guard by their sudden attack and the same thing happened in the past as well. Batman’s one weakness is ironically, his greatest strength. His sense of friendship and camaraderie with the rest of the characters.

Naturally, Robin is also affected by this self aware title. He is even more helpless than ever and always manages to say the wrong things so that Batman can correct him. He has absolutely no self confidence anymore and constantly says things like “You’re always right Batman” Of course, even that isn’t safe as Batman reminds him that nobody is always right. Seriously, Robin gets scolded in literally every panel that he is in and manages to lose all of his big fights as well. Robin is pretty accepting of this though and seems like a nice kid. Maybe he’ll be the one dishing out the morals someday…maybe.

The art is decent. The final comic is sharp and the Death Man adventure definitely looked pretty good. Sometimes the art can be very disproportionate though. It is noticeable when someone yells or you’ll just catch moments of this during the adventures. Batman’s costume also seems to have a white bit on his nose that is usually there, but vanishes sometimes. In the end I’d say that the art is good, but definitely not great like DC’s usual products. I suppose that it’ll help people relate to the classic days though.

Overall, This is a solid way for Batman’66 to start heading to the final volume. It has a lot of momentum riding with it at this point and hopefully the final volume will be just as good. If you’ve ever wanted to see the most exaggeratedly heroic character ever, then this is the comic for you. Even Superman would have a tough time trying to compete with this guy. It’d be great if we could ever see this version of Batman pop up in the regular comics someday. Who knows, a Batman’66 and Batman crossover could come out someday. The contrast between the two would definitely make for a great dynamic.

Overall 8/10

Vampire Knight Memories

Posted on by
Reply

tumblr_o7oulfC1bi1sj2yk3o1_400
I thought that the original Vampire Knight was rather terrible, but this sequel is off to a better start so far. Of course, there is only so much you can wreck in one chapter so we’ll see if it is able to keep it up or if the flaws of the original will eventually materialize and limit the sequel as well. Only time will tell. I’ll have a review for this series when it is finished!

Overall 5/10

Sssssss Review

Posted on by
Reply

517KGH9SFML
Uh oh, looks like it is time to review another film that puts the word rotten in rotten tomatoes. It’s no exaggeration to say that this is one of the worst films I have ever seen as it joins the exclusive 0 star club. There really isn’t anything redeemable about this film and every minute will have you cringing and wincing while looking at your watch and wondering why you aren’t ordering a nice pepperoni pie at Pizza Hut instead of watching this. Sometimes things get worse before they get better, other times they just stay bad. This is one of those times.

A college student named David is a pretty smart guy. He gets bullied a lot though and is happy to go along with Professor Carl when he is recruited to help with some Snake experiments. David doesn’t realize that this ordeal is actually quite sinister despite the Professor constantly injecting him with many needles along with the fact that the previous assistant mysteriously vanished. Can David save himself or have the dice already been cast? I’m afraid that it is the latter and the Snakes begin to wreck everyone!

Well, where to start with this mess? I suppose the first thing to remember is that this film is centered around Snakes. The problem with this is that the film uses it as an opportunity to include as much animal violence as possible. Snakes are choked, killed, and roughly handled by the characters involved. Carl decided to use Snakes as sport by taking one outside only to humiliate it and poke a stick in its face all day. Apparently he does this just about every day simply to show off his power. None of the snakes are handled well as all of the humans try to show their “dominance” by grabbing their necks and messing with them the whole time. I was rooting for the Snakes to take them all down and you’ll be happy to know that most of the characters don’t make it through this. When you mess with the Snakes be prepared for them to mess you up!

This is also the kind of film where one night stands happen quite regularly. The class bully gets one of those moments for no real reason only to be murdered by a snake in the next scene. David and the main heroine also have one of these moments even though they only just met each other a few hours ago. He also gets it afterwards since he has to fight a Snake Eater and those don’t play games. The main heroine manages to make it out of the film alive, but just barely and mainly because Carl didn’t want her to get hurt. Everyone else was fair game.

There was also a fairly mean professor who likes to mess with Carl. He was actually right on the money that Carl was insane, but his reaction times weren’t enough to save him. Even after he solves Carl’s riddle, snakes murder him anyway. Let’s face it, none of these characters were safe from the snakes. They wanted their vengeance and made sure to grab it as quickly as possible. The Cops come to check out matters since they know that someone never made it back out after working for Carl. Surely they’ll do something right? Unfortunately not as the film portrays the cops are terribly unintelligent characters. For starters, they’re scared of the snakes. Even after that it is lightly implied that they suspect something, but they decide not to actually make any moves based on their info. Instead they decide to wait and see even though more people have been murdered and another teenager has vanished. By the time they make a move, it is far too late for them to really be of help to anyone.

This film plays out like a classic horror film as every character is bumped off one at a time. There is no twist ending here though as it just abruptly ends with another death. The film never stays classy though and there were no good parts in the entire film. After all, all of the characters either suffered for a long time before dying or just died. There is no happy ending here in the slightest and the villain literally got away with murder and crazy experiments for years. You’d think that the film would have tried to save someone, but no…it opted for the dark ending. The first teenager who vanished had the sad fate of being forced to lie down in a corner while people laugh at him for ages and ages. Definitely way too dark a plot if you ask me.

Now, could this film have had potential if there was no animal violence, no one night stands, and if Carl had been stopped before he had mutated David? I’d say not really since the previous assistant’s fate was still rather terrible, but maybe the film could have gotten a 3 instead of a 0. It would still be an improvement I suppose. The plot in and of itself is what really doomed the film and it couldn’t recover from that. This is one film that I hope never gets a reboot or a remake.

Overall, Sssssss uses all of the classic horror tropes and cliches that it can find, but that only succeeds in making the film worse and worse. None of the characters are even remotely likable as even the mean teacher is technically a bad character and only serves to be the lesser evil. We even find out that a gas attendant is a mean, unlikable character just for the lolz since the writer wanted to ensure that you couldn’t like anyone. Did I mention that Carl also gives his snakes a lot of beer to drink so that they’ll be drunk? It certainly shows that he is always doing something morally wrong even when he is not murdering and experimenting on people. You also have to question the point of his research since turning people into snakes doesn’t really help with anything. They may outlive humans in his fantasy, but transforming people one at a time in such a slow fashion will ultimately not make even the slightest bit of difference. His research died along with him and the film.

Overall 0/10

Mirror’s Edge Catalyst Review

Posted on by
Reply

mirrors-edge-catalyst-ps4-box-art
I never played the original Mirror’s Edge, but seeing as how Cayalyst is a reboot of sorts, I may as well go with the updated version. The game takes some time to start building up the universe around it, but unless there is a sequel, you’ll ultimately wonder what the point of it was. I suppose that it’s admirable to build up such a universe even if there is no sequel as you can decide how it will end on your own, but that will probably vary from person to person. It’s a fun enough game although it is a little on the short side.

Faith is a runner who was captured by the government and thrown into prison. The world is currently a dictatorship with the government being quite corrupt as always. They have come out with a new nanite virus which can control people once it is installed. They aim to set off the signal across the entire city and someday the world. If this happens, then they will be able to physically control everyone. Faith decides that she can’t let this happen, but unfortunately the leader of the resistance thinks it is too risky to actually…resist. He just wants to talk tough on smaller matters, but believes that they shouldn’t actually attack the government. Well…looks like Faith is on her own!

This is a first person game, but it’s actually not a shooter. As you’re a Runner in this title, you can imagine that running is what you’ll be doing most of the time. You typically have to run from point A to point B while performing some athletics and occasionally fighting with the authorities. As you play through the game you will acquire gadgets that will help you out like gliding between buildings or using a rope to pull yourself up. You even acquire an EMP weapon, which is very handy to have when you are surrounded by enemies. For combat, you can use the weak or strong attacks on your opponents. You’ll want to mix them up or the opponents will counter attack. Personally I found that the best way to beat them was to always jump off of something or just jump into them as the A.I. can never react to such an attack. Beating the enemies is pretty easy provided that you don’t try to rush it by running towards them. You will want to use strategy here.

The gameplay is pretty smooth, but occasionally you’ll find yourself at a jump where the camera angles make it difficult. I died quite a few times during the mission where you had to climb a 4 sided tower to deactivate a cannon. There are also a time where I jumped a little too high and found myself on a roof. It was very difficult to get down from there since I wasn’t supposed to be that high in the first place. Luckily, I managed at some point. That was rare though and on the whole the controls were easy to learn and proved to be intuitive.

Unfortunately, there is no final boss in the game so you don’t get to really show off your skills. True, you get to fight some minions towards the end of the game, but I wouldn’t call them a “final boss” to be honest. We did get a nice cutscene which had a fight between Faith and Kat which was neat though. I wasn’t expecting any fighting considering that the game was just about over by that point and it was a good action scene. Faith’s a solid hand to hand fighter even if she does tend to get a little distracted from time to time.

Graphically the game looks good. I wouldn’t call it great though and I think that a PS4 title can do better, but it’s not bad either. You still wouldn’t go and mistake this for an older generation like the PS2. The game opts for a very realistic style which is likely what hampers the graphics a bit. Just look at a game like Super Smash Bros and then at the latest Metal Gear. Metal Gear looks good, but Smash Bros looks a lot more vibrant and modern. Embracing the fantasy elements of a video game can certainly make it look a lot better in the long run. By the way, the cover of this game does sort of spoil the ending design from one of Faith’s choices though so prepare yourself!

As far as the soundtrack goes, Mirror’s Edge is okay. There aren’t really any standout themes, but they were fairly decent while playing through. I just can’t remember any of them at the moment so that’s a little bit of a strike against it. While the main campaign is pretty short, there is a lot of post game content to help the replay value. There are 50 trophies in the game. You’ll get around 20 of them by beating the game and then the other 30 are related to finding a lot of switches and completing many side missions. I’d say that doing all of that should definitely triple your overall play time or maybe even go a little beyond that. There seems to be some kind of multiplayer mode here as well. I’m not sure what that’s all about, but it could be a fun thing to try out if you have PS+.

Faith is a decent main character I guess as she is less annoying than the others, but I wouldn’t call her a great character either. She is the “tough” character of the group who isn’t afraid to break the rules and defy the government. Pretty much all of her lines are meant to remind you of this. The problem is that she shows moments of weakness quite regularly to the point where it destroys this image and she doesn’t seem to have a clear idea of what she even wants to do. Of course, it doesn’t help that she is surrounded by cowards and villains though. She’s the best character, but the bar is set rather low and I’d like to see her decide to fight the villains on her own at some point.

Icarus is the new member of the resistance who talks tough and doesn’t get along with Faith. By the end of the game he is basically the damsel in distress though and loses all of his confidence. No worries, Faith is here to help him out. This guy was annoying from the get go and while it seems like he could be a better character now (He better not become a love interest) I will probably find it difficult to like him. He’s better than Faith’s original boss though. That guy was afraid to make any waves and was scared of the villains. I don’t know how he became the leader of the resistance, but he was holding the group back whenever he appeared.

Then there’s the leader of the more extreme resistance, but she’s also a villain by the end. She wants to destroy everyone who leads privileged lives so they can know how she feels. Faith doesn’t like the government, but the world wouldn’t be any better under this resistance movement either which presents her with a dilemma. It’s one that she doesn’t really worry about though and she is still rather indecisive by the end so it’ll be intriguing to see which side she ultimately goes with. It’s lightly implied that the government may not be as corrupt anymore as a new leader has been elected, but it could very easily just be a political front.

Along the way we are also introduced to a computer genius who helps Faith out a lot. Her gimmick is that she takes everything literally and constantly insults everyone. It’s a decent gimmick I suppose, but one that can get a little tiring. There’s also a guy who Faith owes a lot of credits due to being in jail for so long. They have a rather weird dynamic as he’ll be insulting and threatening her one moment to giving her a pep talk the next. I definitely wouldn’t trust him if I was Faith since he seems a little unhinged. He seems to be the leader of the black market or something like that. I’m sure that we would meet other characters through the side missions as well, but those were the main ones. There’s also a lighthearted runner who asks you to do things for him once in a while, but he never becomes an important character.

Naturally, we can’t forget the main villains either. The main villain can actually fight a little which is cool, but he’s your average evil scientist aside from that. I’ll give him some credit for actually being fairly interesting though. I actually didn’t mind rooting for him a little since he’s actually more likable than 90% of the heroes. It’s just too bad that he left the cure that could stop his big plans in the middle of a room on the top floor with absolutely no security. I guess being overconfident didn’t pay off for him this time.

His right hand woman also gets a bit role and delves into Captain America:Winter Soldier issues. She murders quite a few people and even tortures one or two of them before putting them out of their misery. She’s completely evil, but then a plot twist happens. As Marvel would say “No, she’s not a clone or being mind controller. This is really her!” She should be held accountable right? Well, not really according to Faith. This whole thing is very personal and stopping the resistance from murdering her is one thing, but this lady still needs to be locked up for life at least. Even if she turned over a new leaf, she’s got to pay for the crimes. Faith seemed to completely forget everything that the lady did and it was a little iffy. If we got a sequel, it would be interesting to see if Faith tried to keep on convincing this lady to join her or not. Everyone seems to have gotten over the murders and such though so maybe Faith did as well.

Faith-punch
Overall, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is a good game. The story could have used a little work though. Essentially, it feels like you’re thrown into a world which is established around you, but then you’re taken out just as quickly. You got to see a glimpse of a whole new world, but there was no ending. Hopefully a sequel could work on that a little as the ending certainly doesn’t feel like anything has changed. The gameplay is solid though and trying to get the Platinum Trophy will help with the short length. The game does well on technical merits as well and ultimately gameplay will always trump the story for me as long as the story isn’t terrible, which this one certainly was not. I just wish that we had gotten some more likable characters and maybe a boss fight or two. Also, did anyone else miss the cool secret agent who was murdered so quickly by the right hand woman? He had the potential to be awesome, but so much for that. He didn’t even get a plot twist to himself. I recommend checking out this title, but maybe you should wait until the price goes down. I don’t think it will take too long for that to happen as price reductions happen all the time now. Now, it’s back to working on Final Fantasy VII for a while longer. I’m about halfway so just like 20 hours left until I wreck Sephiroth!

Overall 7/10

Independence Day 2 Resurgence Review

Posted on by
2

independence-day-2-resurgence-movie-poster
It certainly took a while for this sequel to come out. In preparation I recently rewatched the first title and a review for that one will be coming fairly soon. Unfortunately, Resurgence isn’t quite as epic as the original and has more wince-worthy scenes….not to mention a lot more plot hax. This is always going to be the result when you make the villains absurdly powerful though. It’s good to keep them within reasonable striking distance. Still, Resurgence is still a good film, but it certainly can’t be called a great one. I think that the third film could reasonably beat this film if it gets made, but the series is certainly not going to feel like Independence Day anymore. The first film really captured the heart and depth of what this franchise was all about.

It has been 20 years since America defeated the Mothership and the rest of the countries allied together to stop the aliens. Now, they have finally returned and everyone who was connected to the aliens at one point in time can hear their telepathic presence. This wakes up one of the scientists from his 20 year coma and gets the old President back into action. The only problem is that nobody believes the former President until it’s too late and the aliens have returned. They quickly destroy a city and cause some massive damage. The heroes will have to do what they did last time and destroy the Alien Queen. If they can do that, then order will be restored to the universe. It’ll be significantly more difficult this time though since humanity has realized that sending a virus through a Mac is very tricky and won’t work a second time. We’ll need a more physical approach.

As you would expect, the special effects are quite good. As it is, the first film looked great for its time and this film shows how much our graphics have improved. The aliens can actually be seen without the smoke covering them all the time. We don’t get any visuals that are quite as powerful as seeing the White House get obliterated by a giant laser, but there are some homages to that moment. There are a lot of homages in general although they don’t work too well for the most part. The new version of “There will be no peace” comes off rather badly as the character who is saying this doesn’t say it in a commanding voice. Not to mention the fact that it probably wasn’t a great situation in which to say the line.

There are some retcons here as well. The scientist character was definitely dead in the first film. In this film they retconned the neck choke a little to say that it is purely just to talk to humans through the vessel rather than destroying someone and creepily saying stuff. The film pushes this point by having the alien do this against another opponent as well. It’s too bad because the scientist is a pretty bad character. In the first film his role was rather small so he didn’t get to grate on your nerves quite as much, but his role is definitely bigger this time around. He’s also completely used for comedy this time and results in most of the unfortunate humor moments that I had hoped to avoid.

Another weakness in this film is naturally the romance. The film justifies a “classic” love at first fight plot which is really terrible. On one hand we have the typical flirt who tries to go with everyone, but they all reject him. This time will be different he thinks as he likes an ace pilot who also loses someone rather close to her so he quickly takes this opportunity to show off and win her over. It’s sadly very successful as everyone in the theater probably predicted the instant that she first appeared. It really undermines her character to go with him so easily. We also have the romance with the main lead, which has no real point to being here.

Resurgence also takes itself a little too seriously at times with quite a few tearful goodbyes and characters barely holding it together as they give out a speech. Given that the film is constantly throwing comedy moments at you, these scenes don’t work well. Not to mention that so many characters die during the film in very sudden scenes that there is no real time to feel sad. The heroes just go back to joking right away anyway so the film doesn’t even take its own serious moments all that seriously.

My final complaint lies with the writing. The previous complaint is more or less related to this as well. Most of the characters are just written very badly. The main character is a good example of this. He’s supposed to be the tough and charismatic leader that everyone loves during the film. He breaks the rules and always ends up saving the day. Being grounded for saving dozens of lives after a tech malfunction was laughable so I don’t blame him there. Still, his “big” moment where he insulted the aliens was very bad. There are a lot of ways to have a cool moment without just being vulgar. Unfortunately, the crowd did laugh and cheer a bit during this moment. I got a very active crowd, but they help to remind me why these bad moments won’t end. Everyone always cheers at the moments where they are supposed too. Directors and Producers love this kind of crowd because they go along with just about everything. Crowd mentality is strong so a lot of people naturally just get taken in by it, but it also means that these kind of scenes will be sticking around for the long haul. It’s regrettable.

Back to the writing though. Towards the end of the film, a big point of emphasis is that all of the dozens/hundreds of alien ships are protecting the Alien Queen. That’s their whole purpose and yet, they sit by and just watch as the heroes attack her for minutes upon minutes. That was just terrible writing. The writers put themselves into a hole that they couldn’t get out of so they had to just throw logic out the window. It’s a shame. Still, the Alien Queen was cool and the armor that the aliens used was pretty neat. I’m not sure about them losing to a guy with two swords and a comic relief assistant with a blaster though. That seemed like a bit of a stretch.

All right, let’s look at the positives. The soundtrack was pretty solid. We had some pretty nice themes and it helped to carry across the film’s epic vibe. It was mitigated by the futuristic Earth that no longer looked like ours and the fact that you can never top the original Alien incursion. Still, it was cool to see the alien fleet arrive. I also think that it was good to finally see Earth shoot first when the aliens appeared. It was rigged this time, but I’d say that we made the right move. The film started out quite rapidly even if it slowed down quite a lot after that.

David was one of the big characters from the first film and he’s still really solid here. His romance with another scientist is terribly written, but beyond that he is a good character. A lot of his scenes are humorous, but in a good way as opposed to the majority of the other characters. I do disagree with some of his decisions like the “wait and see” approach, but on the whole he was smart and came up with his own ideas. He wasn’t a yes man the way that some of the scientists and government workers were. His dad was also a pretty fun character like in the last film. He gets less screen time here since his plot gets the shaft much like the driving plot in the first film. That’s probably a good thing if you ask me although it was fun seeing the dog stand up to the aliens. This puppy meant business and thanks to the Dad, the kids who were along for the ride will never forget this day as they got to meet some really important figures.

Thomas, the former president, was another solid character. It’s a little unfortunate that he is seen as a crazy guy on meds now instead of the world remembering him as an awesome guy. Although, the general public may not be aware of this and only select members since he does still get a lot of attention. People should be taking him seriously considering how well he did in the first film. Also, is it just me or did he look different in the flashback to the first film? I highly doubt they would have re filmed the speech for such a short clip so it must have just been my imagination. Thomas stepped up to the plate when the chips were down and turned out to be someone that the rest of the world could count on to fight the aliens. Being attacked telepathically may have weakened him, but he’s still the same likable character that he always was and is easily the best character in the film.

Even though I recently saw the first film (5 days before watching this one) it was a little hard to keep track of all the characters. I wouldn’t call it confusing as you know who everyone is in the context of this film, but as far as the homages and wink-wink moments at the audience go, I probably missed a few. The army guy sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place him. The character who was with David as a rival also felt like she came out of nowhere, but maybe she was actually one of the characters from the first film. Ah well, I suppose that a film like this one is supposed to have a huge cast. Perhaps it should have thought about getting rid of a few excess ones though.

Two characters who didn’t go over well were Jake and Dylan. It goes without saying that I didn’t like the comic relief, flirting sidekick, the two scientists who crossed the bridge of being quirky to over the top so those are already in the pile. The “tough” heroine who was the grand daughter of the army general was also destroyed the instant that she didn’t shut down the comic relief guy. Jake could have been cool since I like the tough rebel type of main character, but he goes a little too far as well. His plot of nearly destroying Dylan a while back wasn’t really handled well either. Dylan doesn’t come across as likable either for the fact that he held a grudge against Jake for so long and got a sucker punch in and then cracking when the chips were down. Sure, the two of them get along very well after a few minutes and it’s back to normal, but it was hard to recover from that so easily. I don’t blame Jake for saving lives after a mechanical malfunction since I didn’t think it was his fault in the first place, but that’s about all the credit I can give him.

As mentioned before, the action scenes are great though. The film also never drags on even though it’s around 2 hours. The pacing is good and I never thought that any of the plots were particularly boring. Some were fillerish, but at least things were still happening. The drunk fellows blackmailing the world for 100 million was one of those “interesting” plots that actually worked out pretty well though. They were certainly bold even if they didn’t do much. Seriously, that was probably the easiest 100 mil that they ever earned. All they had to do was keep drinking while keeping an eye on the equipment.

I won’t talk about the plot for the next film much, but the film does take a big turn. It’s hilarious for the wrong reasons though as someone talks really tough, but if you actually think about what she’s saying…then you’ll realize that they made all of the wrong decisions. I can’t say much more than that, but it’s intriguing. We could very well be going to Star Trek/Star Wars a lot sooner than we thought and I can picture other alien languages being spoken soon and intergalactic bars. Nothing is out of the question now and whether that is a good thing or not…we will find out soon enough!

Overall, Resurgence is a fun film, but one that does have quite a few problems bogging it down. For every good character there was a bad one and for every epic scene there was a wince worthy one. The topsy turvyness of the film is what keeps it from getting a really good score. Hopefully the sequel will be able to improve on this. At the very least, the action scenes and effects are quite good. I expect them to get even better with the next film. It’s definitely an ambitious plot line going forward and I can definitely see a lot of Star Trek comparisons coming out soon. The third film has the potential to be a completely different experience so I hope that the writers are ready for the challenge ahead. I’m not sure how much confidence I have in them after this though.

Overall 6/10